At international level, Verón obtained 73 caps for Argentina between 1996 and 2010, scoring 9 goals. He represented his nation at three FIFA World Cups, and at the 2007 Copa América, where he won a runners-up medal.

In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100 centenary list of the 125 greatest living footballers, selected by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Verón has both Argentine and Italian citizenship. His nickname is La Brujita[la βɾuˈxita] (The Little Witch), a nod to his father Juan Ramón who was known as La Bruja (The Witch) and was also a championship winning player with Estudiantes.[4]

In 1998, after playing for Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, he signed for Parma in a £15-million deal. The following year, Parma won the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup. Eriksson then signed him again, this time for Lazio in an £18.1-million deal, with Verón reportedly netting a weekly wage of £48,000. He made his debut for Lazio in the Italian side's 1–0 victory over Manchester United in the European Super Cup, in Monaco.[citation needed]

But in February 2000 he was under investigation by Italian police for a possible fake Italian passport in order to avoid the non-EU quota. However, the charge was cleared by FIGC in June 2001, because his passport really had been issued by Italian officials, and he avoided a ban.[6] However, a new controversy was exposed that Verón and his agent may have used fake documents submitted to the Italian government in order to allege to the government that Verón had Italian descent and granted him an Italian passport, which claimed an Italian, Giuseppe Antonio Porcella was Verón's great grandfather Ireneo Portela.[7] Manchester United even inserted a clause in the transfer document for a possible ban.[8] In July 2002, he was called to appear before Italy's state prosecutor to answer allegations he illegally acquired an Italian passport.[9] Elena Tedaldi, the agent who helped Verón to get the passport, was jailed for 15 months,[10][11] but Verón and Sergio Cragnotti, former Lazio chairman were acquitted in 2007.[12] It is because Verón also had Italian descent through another great-grand parent, and it was Tedaldi who used the fake documents.[13]

His spell at Old Trafford was not a great success. He had trouble adapting to the faster pace of the Premiership and was not allowed the same space and time on the ball. There was plenty of pressure on him at the start of his second season at Old Trafford and his performances did improve considerably, especially in the Champions League, where he excelled due to the slower tempo of the matches, scoring four goals, and was at the heart of United's successes in the group stages.[5] However, injury meant that he missed much of the end of the season. Questions over his performance led to an expletive laden tirade against the media by manager Sir Alex Ferguson in support of Verón: "[Verón] is a fucking great player" were his parting words. "And you're all fucking idiots."[16] However, fans and pundits alike agreed that the signing was an expensive flop.[17] Verón later commented that the reason for his fitness problems and struggles with injuries at Manchester United where due to the less intense summer pre-season training in England.[5]

When Chelsea paid £15 million for him two years on following the arrival of Roman Abramovich, Verón claimed that he wanted to stay and fight for his place at Old Trafford but Ferguson was willing to let Chelsea talk to him and he was eventually convinced by then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri that his future lay at Stamford Bridge, where he had much to prove. His transfer fee to Chelsea was about half that of his record-breaking transfer of just two years before.

Verón made an excellent start to his Chelsea career by scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield,[18] but he fell away with injury problems as the 2003–04 season progressed and made only 15 appearances for Chelsea.

The Times listed Verón's transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea amongst the 50 worst transfers ever in Premiership history.[19] His several big-money transfers made Verón then the most expensive footballer in history with a cumulative total of £77 million at that time.

In mid-2006, Verón made it known that he wished to return to his native Argentina for the 2006–07 season. He received offers from Boca Juniors and River Plate, but chose his boyhood club Estudiantes de La Plata, of whom he is a declared fan and has made significant donations in the past to upgrade the club training facilities. Chelsea agreed to loan Verón to Estudiantes for a season, until the end of his contract with the English club. On 13 December 2006, he helped Estudiantes win the Apertura 2006 tournament, its first in 23 years, in a final play-off match final over Boca Juniors. Some rival fans booed him, arguably dating back to his sub-par performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but Verón was ranked among the top three players in the 2006 Argentine League by sports newspaper Olé.[20]

Following his donations to the club's training grounds, Verón was a decisive factor in the agreement with La Plata city hall to update Estudiantes' historic stadium to modern standards. Verón personally engaged then Argentine president Néstor Kirchner to kick-start the negotiations, which had been stalled by La Plata mayor Julio Alak.[21] Verón indicated that he may run for Estudiantes president in the future.

In July 2007, Kevin Payne, president of Major League Soccer club D.C. United, met with Verón in Buenos Aires to discuss a possible transfer, but Verón decided to stay in Estudiantes.[22] Verón suffered from a string of minor injuries after his return from the 2007 Copa América, and missed a number of important games during the 2007–08 season. In early 2008, several football personalities chose Verón as the best player in the Argentine league.[23][24]

Veron's fitness improved in time for the 2008–09 season, in which Estudiantes reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana and secured a place in the 2009 Copa Libertadores. In 2009, he played in the Copa Libertadores for the second time, having seen Estudiantes eliminated in the round of 16 in the previous year by eventual champions Liga de Quito. After displaying his usual excellent level of play throughout the tournament, he found himself leading Estudiantes into the final for the first time since 1971. The Copa Libertadores has long been a special competition for Estudiantes and its fans, ever since the team won three consecutive titles from 1968–1970 with Verón's father playing a key role on the left wing. Verón certainly shared this affinity for the most prestigious title in the American continent, as evidenced by his declaration before the final: "I would trade everything I've won for this title."[25] His dream came true as Estudiantes won the final, after an aggregate of 2–1. A 0–0 tie in La Plata and a dramatic 2–1 win away in Belo Horizonte against Brazil's Cruzeiro sealed el pincha's triumph.[26][27] Verón was chosen by visitors to fifa.com as the best player of the 2009 Copa Libertadores.[28]

In December 2016, Verón returned to professional football, signing an 18-month contract to play for Estudiantes in the 2017 Copa Libertadores. Verón had vowed to return if fans bought 65% of the boxes at the club's new stadium, and fulfilled that promise by signing an 18-month contract; he will be given a minimum salary that will go directly back to the club for everyday operations.[33] He made his first appearance for the club since coming out of retirement in a 1–0 friendly victory over Bahia in the Florida Cup, in Orlando, on 15 January 2017, playing the first half, before being substituted.[34]

Verón was called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where Argentina was eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. A rumour (never confirmed) that Verón had failed an internal doping test, and allegations of laziness hampered his relationship with the media and fans. He was called up again for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, where Verón was regarded as a key player and captained the side in place of the injured Roberto Ayala. Some fans[who?] held him personally responsible for Argentina's dismal performance, which included a loss to England and elimination in the group phase.

After then-national coach José Pekerman omitted him from the 2006 World Cup squad, his replacement, Alfio Basile recalled Verón to the national squad in February 2007, based on his performance in Estudiantes's 2006 championship team. Verón was a starter in the Argentine team that reached the final of Copa América 2007. Due to injuries and Estudiantes's busy schedule, Verón did not feature in the immediate plans of national coach Diego Maradona, but was recalled to the Argentine squad as a second-half substitute in the 4–0 win over Venezuela on 28 March 2009, Maradona's first competitive game in charge of the national team. He also played in the starting XI in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Colombia on 6 June 2009 and was selected by manager Diego Maradona in the final 23-man squad for the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Verón started Argentina's first group match against Nigeria, and provided the assist for Gabriel Heinze's goal. After missing the match against South Korea due to injury, Verón returned to the starting line-up againstGreece and played the full 90 minutes as Argentina won 2–0. He came on as a substitute for Carlos Tévez in the 69th minute in Argentina's 3–1 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16, but did not feature during the quarterfinal loss to Germany.

In December 2012, Verón returned to Estudiantes to work as Director of Sports of the institution. In a press conference, the president of the club, Enrique Lombardi, stated that Verón will not receive any remuneration for his work at the club.[3]

Juan Sebastián Verón is the eldest son of former Argentina striker Juan Ramón Verón, who scored against Manchester United for Estudiantes at Old Trafford in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup.[37] He was born the day his father played a derby for Estudiantes against cross-town rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima. As a boy, Verón dreamed of playing for English club Sheffield United, as his uncle, Pedro Verde, played for the club at the time. When his son started to play professionally, his father tried to persuade one of his former clubs Panathinaikos to sign him. However, after a short trial with them, they finally decided that he was not good enough for their team. After his transfer to Manchester United, Verón said, "So there I was hoping to play for Sheffield United and here I am at Manchester United!"[38]

Verón was a talented, complete, influential, and versatile midfielder, who usually functioned as a playmaker; he was capable of playing both as an attacking midfielder, and in the centre, or just in front of the defensive line, as a deep-lying playmaker, due to his ability to dictate the tempo of his team's play and orchestrate his team's attacking moves from deeper positions, but he could also get forward and score goals, and often functioned in a free role. A strong, athletic, tenacious, hardworking, and physical player, in his prime, he was gifted with pace, good footwork, and excellent technical ability, as well as outstanding vision and passing range, also possessing a powerful shot from distance with both feet.[5][39][40][41][42] He was also an accurate set piece taker, known for his powerful, bending free-kicks.[43][44]

1.
La Plata
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La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of the partido La Plata. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 765,378, La Plata was planned and developed to serve as the provincial capital after the city of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880. It was officially founded by Governor Dardo Rocha on 19 November 1882 and its construction is fully documented in photographs by Tomás Bradley Sutton. La Plata was renamed Eva Perón City between 1952 and 1955, the city is home to two important first division football teams, Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. Rocha decided to erect a new city to host the provincial government institutions, urban planner Pedro Benoit designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city has the shape of a square with a central park, in addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonal streets. This design is copied in a manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. For every six blocks, there is a park or square. Other than the streets, all streets are on a rectangular grid and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed la ciudad de las diagonales and it is also called la ciudad de los tilos, because of the large number of linden trees lining the many streets and squares. Palms and subtropical evergreen trees thrive, but are comparatively infrequent. The city design and its buildings are noted to possess a strong Freemason symbolism and this is said to be a consequence of both Rocha and Benoit being Freemasons. The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by Italians, the City Hall by Germans, electric street lighting was installed in 1884, and was the first of its kind in Latin America. The neo-Gothic cathedral of La Plata is the largest church in Argentina, the Curutchet House is one of the two buildings by Le Corbusier built in the Americas. The Teatro Argentino de La Plata is one of the most important opera houses in Argentina, the theatre was built on the square block between 9th and 10th Street and 51st and 53rd Avenue. It was opened on November 19,1890 and it was designed by Leopoldo Rochi in Renaissance style. The work was funded by the first inhabitants of La Plata, in the foyer, entering through the majestic doors, there was a beautiful white Carrara marble staircase

2.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic

3.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy

4.
Estudiantes de La Plata
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Club Estudiantes de La Plata, simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine sports club based in La Plata. The clubs football team competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history. The club is amongst the most successful teams in Argentina, in 1967, Estudiantes was the first team outside of the traditional big five to win a professional league title. Since then, the squad has won four league titles to bring the total to five. It has had even greater success, having won six international titles. Estudiantes international silverware consists of four Copa Libertadores, an Intercontinental Cup, the club was founded in 1905 when a group of players and fans decided to break away from Gimnasia de La Plata, which favored indoor sports over football. Matches between the two clubs are known as the Clásico Platense, the Estudiantes home stadium is undergoing renovations, so the team plays in the city-owned Estadio Único de La Plata. Other sports where Estudiantes competes are basketball, team handball, field hockey, golf, swimming, judo, and volleyball. Thus, on August 4,1905, in the shoestore New York on 7th Street and its first president, Miguel Gutiérrez, was elected on the very same night, when the club charter was drafted by card-carrying member #1, Alfredo Lartigue. In those days, teams like Lomas A. C. Quilmes, on 28 February 1906 Estudiantes adopted a jersey design of striped red and white, in honor of Alumni, that had won ten championships between 1900 and 1911. However, during the years, Estudiantes had to use a red shirt with a white stripe in the chest. A year later, Estudiantes enrolled in the Associación Amateurs de Football, the stadium on 1st Avenue opened on 25 December 1907. Estudiantes first achievement was the 1911 Primera B title which allowed the team to play at the top division of Argentine football, just two years later Estudiantes won its first title in Primera, playing at the dissident Federación Argentina de Football. That season the team disputed 18 matches, winning 14 with only 1 lost, in 1914 Estudiantes made another great campaign but the team finished 2nd to Porteño. 1919 saw Estudiantes finishing 2nd to champion Boca Juniors although the Association put an end to the tournament with 14 fixtures still to be played, the Association alleged that the championship took longer than expected so it was suddenly finished. In subsequent years, Estudiantes made irregular campaigns, in some cases finishing at the bottom of the table, nevertheless, the team made a great performance in 1928 when finishing 3rd to champion Huracán and Boca Juniors. The last year of amateur era saw Estudiantes being runner-up to Boca Juniors, the team totalized 56 points in 35 matches, with 27 won and 7 losses. Alberto Zozaya scored the first goal of professional football in Argentina and was the top goalscorer of the first professional tournament

5.
Boca Juniors
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Boca Juniors refers to the popular Argentine football club. Other clubs have been named after it, as well as other things, Boca Juniors, football club in Colombia. Boca Juniors, football club in Grenada, Boca Juniors, football club in Río Gallegos, Argentina

6.
U.C. Sampdoria
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Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly known as Sampdoria, is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, Sampdoria currently compete in Serie A. Both the team name and jersey do reflect this, the first being a combination of the former names, the teams colours are blue with white, red and black hoops, hence the nickname blucerchiati. Sampdoria play at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, capacity 36,536, the derby between the two teams is commonly known as the Derby della Lanterna. Sampdoria have won the Scudetto only once in their history, in 1990–91, the club has also won the Coppa Italia four times and one Supercoppa Italiana. Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners Cup in 1989–90 and they also reached the European Cup final in 1991–92, losing the final 1–0 to Barcelona after extra time. The Ginnastica Sampierdarenese was founded in 1891, opening its section in 1899. Also around this time, a club named Society Andrea Doria was founded in 1895, the club eventually joined the competition for the 1903 Italian Football Championship, but did not win a game in the tournament until 1907, when they beat local rivals Genoa 3–1. It was not until 1910–11 that the club began to show promise, during that seasons tournament, they finished above Juventus, Internazionale and Genoa in the Piedmont-Lombardy-Liguria section. After World War I, Sampierdarenese finally began to compete in the Italian Championship, after they bought a club of Genoa province. With the 1921–22 season, the Italian top league was split into two competitions, both of the clubs in Sampdorias history were in competitions that year too. Sampierdarenese played in the FIGC-run competition, whereas Andrea Doria played in the CCI variation, Sampierdarenese won the Ligura section and then went on to the semi-finals, finishing top out of three clubs, this lead them to the final against Novese. Both legs of the final ended in 0–0 draws, thus a repetition match was played in Cremona on 21 May 1922, still intensely difficult to separate, the match went into extra time with Novese eventually winning the tie 2–1. After the league system in Italy was brought back into one item, at the end of the 1926–27 season, the clubs merged by fascist authorities under the name La Dominante. Wearing green and black striped shirts, La Dominante Genova were admitted to the first ever season of Serie B, the next season, under the name Liguria, they had a disastrous year, finishing bottom of the table and suffering relegation. Because of this, both Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria reverted to their previous names as separate clubs, Sampierdarenese were back in Serie B for the 1932–33 season and finished in the upper part. The following year, they were crowned champions and were promoted into Serie A for the first time, in the early 1940s, the club was relegated, but bounced straight back up as Serie B champions in 1941. After World War II, both clubs were competing in Serie A, in a reverse of pre-war situations, Andrea Doria were now the top out of the two

7.
Parma F.C.
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Commonly referred to as Parma, is an Italian football club based in the city of Parma that currently competes in Lega Pro, the third tier of Italian football. Founded as Parma Football Club in December 1913, the club plays its matches in the 22, 352-seat Stadio Ennio Tardini, often referred to as simply Il Tardini. It traditionally plays attractive football and develops players through the clubs academy. C, Milan and Inter Milan, the only Italian sides to have had more success in European competition than Parma. The club was declared bankrupt in 2015 and re-founded in Serie D by virtue of the Comma 10 of the Article 52 of N. O. I. F. A club was founded in July 1913 as Verdi Foot Ball Club in honour of the centenary of famous opera composer Giuseppe Verdi and it adopted yellow and blue as its colours. In December of the year, Parma Foot Ball Club was formed from many of the original clubs players. Parma began playing football during the 1919–20 season after the end of World War I. Construction of a stadium, the Stadio Ennio Tardini, began two years later, Parma became a founder member of Serie B after finishing as runners-up in the Prima Divisione in the 1928–29 season. The club would remain in Serie B for three years before being relegated and changing its name to Associazione Sportiva Parma in 1931, in the 1935–36 season, Parma became a founding member of Serie C, where the club stayed until winning promotion back to Serie B in 1943. Italian football was brought to a halt as the Second World War intensified. Following the restart of organised football, Parma spent three years in Serie B, then split into two divisions, before again being relegated in 1948–49 to Serie C. The side would spend five seasons in Serie C before an eleven-year spell in Serie B that included the achievement of ninth position in 1954–55. Parma made its debut in European competition during the 1960–61 season, defeating Swiss side AC Bellinzona in the Coppa delle Alpi, Parma spent just one season in Serie C before a second successive relegation, this time to Serie D, in 1966. The club was in turmoil and was ordered into liquidation by the Court of Parma in 1968, in 1969, another local team, Associazione Calcio Parmense, won promotion to Serie D. On 1 January 1970, A. C. Parmense adopted the sporting licence of the club which had been formed in 1913. This meant that it had the right to use the crociato shirts, the badge, the team was relegated back to Serie C in its second season in the division. A return to Serie B did not materialise until the end of the 1970s, the Ducali again only spent a year in Serie B, finishing third from bottom and succumbing to relegation as a consequence. Arrigo Sacchi did, however, manage to return the club to Serie B in 1986 after a season in the third tier

8.
S.S. Lazio
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Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia six times, the club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974, they won their first Serie A title, Lazios traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and white shorts with white socks, the colours are reminiscent of Romes ancient Hellenic legacy. Sky blue socks have also been used as home colours. Their home is the 70,634 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Roma until the year 2018, when the latter will leave for the Stadio della Roma. Lazio have a rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale since 1929. Lazio is also a club that participate in 40 sports disciplines in total. Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome, in 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regimes attempts to merge all the citys teams into what would become A. S. The club played in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, the 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with a Coppa Italia win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, after a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71. Lazio improved such successes the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74, however, tragic deaths of Re Cecconi and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow for Lazio. The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some relief as he finished League top scorer in 1979, Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan. They remained in Italys second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazios history and they would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season. The 1984–85 season would prove harrowing, with a pitiful 15 points, in 1986, Lazio was hit with a nine-point deduction for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani. The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti in 1992 changed the clubs due to his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto competitor. A notable early transfer during his tenure was the capture of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million, gascoignes transfer to Lazio is credited with the increase of interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last ever UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1999 and they also reached the UEFA Cup, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale

9.
Manchester United F.C.
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Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United have won a record 20 League Titles, a joint-record 12 FA Cups,5 League Cups, the club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the became the first in the history of English football to achieve the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup. The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players, in 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles,5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, José Mourinho is the clubs current manager, having been appointed on 27 May 2016. As of June 2015, it is the worlds most valuable football brand and it is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world. In August 2012, Manchester United made a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The club holds several rivalries, most notably with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United, Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. By 1888, the club had become a member of The Combination. Following the leagues dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance and this resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the railway company and dropped the LYR from its name. After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division, in January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £260,000 in 2017 – the club was served with a winding-up order. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield, Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City. In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000, in the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947,1948 and 1949, in 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the title winning side of 1956 were labelled the Busby Babes by the media. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season

10.
Chelsea F.C.
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Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The clubs greatest period of success has come during the last two decades, winning 21 trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, Chelseas regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The clubs crest has changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club. The current crest, featuring a lion rampant regardant holding a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club have the sixth-highest average all-time attendance in English football and their average home gate for the 2015–16 season was 41,500, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in 2016, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion. In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground, an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club won promotion to the First Division in their second season and they reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the clubs best league campaign to that point. Chelsea attracted large crowds and had a reputation for signing big-name players, former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty, Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the clubs youth set-up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up, under Dochertys successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the year, with another replayed win

11.
F.C. Internazionale Milano
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date

12.
Argentina national football team
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The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentinas home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final appearance in 1978, beating the Netherlands at extra time. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and they again made the World Cup finals in 1990, and lost 1–0 to West Germany following a controversial penalty call in the 87th minute. Argentina made their appearance in a World Cup final in 2014, again losing to Germany. Argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times and also winning the extra South American Championships in 1941,1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the Argentine olympic team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina, Brazil and France are the national teams that have won the three most important mens titles recognized by FIFA, the World Cup, the Confederations Cup. They have also won their continental championship. Argentina is known for having rivalries with Brazil, Uruguay, England, the first match ever recorded by Argentina was against Uruguay. The game was held in Montevideo on 16 May 1901 and Argentina won 3–2, during the first years of its existence, the Argentina national team only played friendly matches against other South American teams. The reasons for this varied, including long travel times between countries and World War I, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost, 4–2, to Uruguay. Argentina won in their final in 1978, beating the Netherlands. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany and their most recent World Cup final was in 2014, which they lost 1–0 to Germany. Previous to this their last World Cup final was in 1990, argentinas World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986. Argentina has been successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentina team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Argentina also won six of the 14 football competitions at the Pan American Games, in March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time

13.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England

14.
Serie A
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It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999. In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, the championship titles won prior to 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC with the same weighting as titles that were subsequently awarded. However, the 1945–46 season, when the league was played over two groups due to the ravages of WWII, is not statistically considered, even if its title is fully official. All the winning teams are recognised with the title of Campione dItalia, Juventus, Italys most successful club of the 20th century and the most successful Italian team, is tied for fourth in Europe and eighth in the world with the most official international titles. The club is also the one in the world to have won all possible official continental competitions. Milan is joint third club for international titles won in the world. Internazionale, following their achievements in the 2009–10 season, became the first Italian team to have achieved a treble, Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli, are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football. For most of Serie As history, there were 16 or 18 clubs competing at the top level, since 2004–05, however, there have been 20 clubs altogether. One season was played with 21 teams for political reasons, thus, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team plays once against each league opponent, since the 1994–95 season, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. Since Italy is currently rated fourth in Europe in terms of club football ratings, teams finishing fourth and fifth qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament. A third UEFA Europa League spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia, if both Coppa Italia finalists finish among the top five teams in Serie A, the sixth-ranked team in Serie A is awarded the UEFA Europa League spot. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated to Serie B, any play-off was held after the end of regular season. The last championship playoff occurred in the 1963-64 season when Bologna, below is a list of Serie A clubs who have competed in the competition when it has been a league format. There are 66 teams that have taken part in 85 Serie A championships in a round that was played from the 1929–30 season until the 2016–17 season. The teams in bold compete in Serie A currently, Internazionale is the only team that has played Serie A football in every season. Serie A, as it is structured today, began during the 1929–1930 season, from 1898 to 1922, the competition was organised into regional groups

15.
List of Italian football champions
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The Italian football champions are the annual winners of Serie A, Italys premier football league competition. The title has been contested since 1898 in varying forms of competition, Juventus are the current champions, and have won a record of 32 titles. The first time the Scudetto was used was in 1924 when Genoa won its 9th championship title and decided to add a shield to their shirt as to reward. The finals of the first Italian Football Championship was decided in a day with four teams competing. The title was decided using a knock-out format between the finalists with Genoa, the inaugural winners, the knock-out format was used until the 1909–10 season, when a league consisting of nine teams was formed. The championship, which had been confined to a league in the north of Italy, became a national competition in 1929 with the foundation of Serie A. The first official football tournament was organised in 1898 by the Italian Football Federation. This tournament, the matches of the first Italian Football Championship, were held in a single day on 8 May 1898 in Turin. Genoa were crowned as champions, defeating Internazionale F. C. Torino by 3–1, in the following years, the tournament was structured into regional groups with the winners of each group participating in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. The big clubs withdrew from both the championships in order to protest against the policy of FIF. The Federal Championship was won by Juventus against Doria, however, Juventus didnt receive Spensley Cup because Milan refused to give the Cup to the new Champion, Juventus, giving it to Spensley and his team, Genoa. In November 1908, FIF decided to award permanently Spensley Cup to Milan, the Italian Championship 1908 and Coppa Buni were won by Pro Vercelli beating Juventus, Doria and US Milanese. However, only Pro Vercelli was later recognized as Italian Champions 1908, the Italian Championship was won by Juventus, beating in the Final US Milanese. However, only Pro Vercelli was later recognized as Italian Champions 1909, the format was modified for the 1909–10 season which was played in a league format. Nine clubs participated playing each other home and away. Quello di I Categoria è suddiviso in Campionato Federale e Campionato Italiano, al primo possono prendere parte anche giuocatori di nazionalità estera, residenti in Italia, il secondo è riservato esclusivamente ai giuocatori di nazionalità italiana. At the end of the season, Pro Vercelli and Inter placed both in the first place, so a playoff was needed in order to assign the Federal title. This season was the first victory for Internazionale, who defeated Pro Vercelli in the final by a score of 10–3, in the 1910–11 season, teams from Veneto and Emilia were admitted for the first time to the championship

16.
UEFA Cup
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The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, in 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase, the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner enters at least at the round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used. The title has been won by 27 different clubs,12 of which have won the more than once. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971, the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup which was played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA, the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool in 1973, Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 1976, beating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each,1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs domination, when Maradonas Napoli beat Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year. 1995 saw a third final, with Parma proving their consistency. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996, Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian club era. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 2001 and Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, either side of Sevillas success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraines Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final, in 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year

17.
2017 Copa Libertadores
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The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores is the 58th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South Americas premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Atlético Nacional are the defending champions, starting from this season, the following format changes will be implemented, The tournament will be expanded from 38 to 47 teams. A total of 10 teams eliminated from the Copa Libertadores will be transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, the schedule of the tournament will be extended to year-round so it will start in late January or early February and conclude in late November or early December. Although CONMEBOL proposed to change the format of the final to be played as a match at a venue to be chosen in advance. However, he open the possibility of a return as soon as 2018 if a solution is found. Following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico, CONMEBOL announced that the other six associations will also be allocated an additional berth. The group stage berths left vacant following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico will be redistributed to Argentina, for the qualifying stages, a total of 19 teams will compete in three rounds where the four winners will advance to the group stage. For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties, for the third stage, no draw was made, and the eight teams were allocated into the following four ties, with the second stage winners C5–C8 hosting the second leg. As the identity of the winners of the stage was not known at the time of the draw. Second stage winner C8 Second stage winner C2 vs, Second stage winner C7 Second stage winner C3 vs. Second stage winner C6 Second stage winner C4 vs, Second stage winner C5 For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Notes The schedule of the competition is as follows, the first stage matches are played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used. If still tied, extra time would not be played, the qualifying stages were structured as follows, First stage, The three winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 13 teams which are given byes to the second stage. Second stage, The eight winners of the second stage advanced to the third stage, third stage, The four winners of the third stage advanced to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants. The two best teams eliminated in the stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. The two best teams eliminated in the stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. Only matches in the stage were considered for the ranking of teams

18.
FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams, Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The worlds first international match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the edition of the British Home Championship. After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906 and these were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, planned by The Football Association, Englands football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain won the gold medals and they repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between clubs from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. Lipton invited West Auckland, a side from County Durham. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, in 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a world football championship for amateurs, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the worlds first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFAs professional era. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a championship itself. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, in total,13 nations took part, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America

19.
FIFA 100
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The FIFA100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelés choice of the greatest living footballers. The list contains 123 professional male and 2 female players, at the time the FIFA100 was selected,50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game. Some football observers have questioned the methodology of the list. David Mellor, politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the Evening Standard that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds and he suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen of Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the geographical spread of the selected players. Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery, one of Pelés old team-mates, the former Brazil midfielder Gérson, reacted to his omission from the FIFA100 by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme. Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to part in the project on a point of principle. Following is the list of the FIFA100 greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé, Players active at the time of announcement are marked by. Players who are active are in italics. World Soccers Greatest Players of the 20th Century World Team of the 20th Century The FIFA100

20.
Italian nationality law
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Italian nationality law is the law of Italy governing the acquisition, transmission and loss of Italian citizenship. Like many continental European countries it is based on jus sanguinis. It also incorporates elements that are seen as favourable to the Italian diaspora. The Italian Parliaments 1992 update of Italian nationality law is Law no,91, and came into force on 15 August 1992. Presidential decrees and ministerial directives, including several issued by the Ministry of the Interior, Italian citizenship can be automatically acquired, By birth to an Italian parent in line with the principle of jus sanguinis. By birth in Italy to stateless parents, to parents, or to parents who cannot transmit their nationality to their children. With the acknowledgement or legitimation of an Italian mother or father, by some former citizens of Italy, after two years of residing in Italy, if the original parting with Italian citizenship was caused by naturalising in another state. The citizenship law 555 of 1912, discussed later, carried the pertinent provision until it was superseded, by minor children of persons acquiring Italian citizenship. Before 27 April 1983, minor children could not acquire Italian citizenship by this if they were living abroad from Italy. Through special application, For an individual whose parents were Italian citizens born outside Italy, the applicant must have served in the Italian military or civil service or have resided for two years in Italy after reaching the age of majority. For individuals who were born in Italy to foreign parents but who have resided in Italy continuously from birth to adulthood, through marriage, Foreign women who married an Italian citizen before 27 April 1983 were automatically granted Italian citizenship. After 2 years legal residence in Italy, or 3 years living abroad and this time will be reduced by half if the couple have children. The spouse of an Italian citizen can apply for Italian citizenship through naturalisation, citizens of other countries descended from an ancestor born in Italy may have a claim to Italian citizenship by descent. Italian citizenship is granted by birth through the line, with no limit on the number of generations. An Italian citizen may be born in a country whose citizenship is acquired at birth by all persons born there and that person would be born therefore with the citizenship of two countries. A person may only have acquired jus sanguinis Italian citizenship by birth if one or both of that persons parents was in possession of Italian citizenship on the birth date. Under certain conditions, a child born with Italian citizenship might later have lost Italian citizenship during his or her infancy, the event could prevent a claim of Italian citizenship by his or her descendants. If the Italian parents of a minor child naturalised in another country, one must apply through the Italian consulate that has jurisdiction over their place of residence

21.
Diego Maradona
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Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine retired professional footballer. He has served as a manager and coach at other clubs as well as the team of Argentina. Many in the sport, including writers, players, and fans. He was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé.9 million. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newells Old Boys during his career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli. In his international career with Argentina, he earned 91 caps and his presence on the pitch had a great effect on his teams general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname El Pibe de Oro, in the 1986 World Cup quarter final, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history for two different reasons. Maradona became coach of Argentina in November 2008 and he was in charge of the team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. He coached Dubai-based club Al Wasl in the UAE Pro-League for the 2011–12 season, in August 2013, Maradona joined Argentine Primera D club Deportivo Riestras staff as spiritual coach. He was the first son after three daughters and he has two younger brothers, Hugo and Raúl, both of whom were also professional football players. He was the child and first son of Diego Maradona Chitoro. In 1950, they left Esquina and settled in Buenos Aires, at age eight, Maradona was spotted by a talent scout while he was playing in his neighbourhood club Estrella Roja. He became a staple of Los Cebollitas, the team of Buenos Airess Argentinos Juniors. As a 12-year-old ball boy, he amused spectators by showing his wizardry with the ball during the intermissions of first division games. He named Brazilian playmaker Rivelino and Manchester United winger George Best among his inspirations growing up, on 20 October 1976, Maradona made his professional debut for Argentinos Juniors,10 days before his 16th birthday. He entered to the pitch wearing the number 16 jersey, and after the game stated, Maradona scored his first goal in the Primera División against Marplatense team San Lorenzo on 14 November 1976, two weeks after turning 16. Maradona spent five years at Argentinos Juniors, from 1976 to 1981, Maradona received offers to join other clubs, including River Plate who offered to make him the clubs best paid player. Nevertheless, Maradona expressed his will to be transferred to Boca Juniors, Maradona signed a contract with Boca Juniors on 20 February 1981

22.
Poland national football team
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The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland. Polands home ground is the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw and their current head coach is Adam Nawałka, the most renowned Polish team was the one of the mid-1970s that held England to a draw at Wembley Stadium to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup. They defeated Brazil 1–0 to claim third place in the tournament, Poland also finished third in the 1982 tournament, beating France 3–2 in the third-place play-off. Poland also won the medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the silver medal in 1976 in Montreal. Their Olympic success was helped by an amateur squad, similar to other nations behind the Iron Curtain. Poland first qualified for the UEFA European Championship in 2008 and they also qualified automatically for Euro 2012 by virtue of being joint hosts alongside Ukraine. They finished bottom of their group on both occasions and their first win in the Euros was on 12 June 2016 in a group stage match of Euro 2016 against Northern Ireland. They went on to reach the quarterfinals, the Polish Football Federation was established on 20 December 1919 in Warsaw. Poland would play its first official match on 18 December 1921 in Budapest. Their first international win would come on 28 May 1922 where they took on Sweden in Stockholm and beat them 2–1. Poland qualified for their first ever World Cup in 1937 when they beat Yugoslavia 4–0, during their debut in the World Cup, Poland would play Brazil in a match which would become one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history. Despite Brazil not being regarded as the top team in the 1930s. Under these circumstances, the Polish team – which had never participated on such a level – was expected to lose the game against the South Americans. Thus, the defeat was not a sensation, however, all fans were surprised at the style with which the Poles played their lone game of the tournament. The white and reds got to the time, only then losing 5–6. Ernest Wilimowski, who played for Ruch Chorzów at the time, scored four of Polands five goals, Poland played what would be their last international match before the outbreak of World War II against Hungary, the runners-up in the 1938 World Cup. The match stands out as an achievement as Poland defeated the strongly favored Hungarian side 4–2, on 11 June 1946, following the aftermath of World War II, Poland played their first international friendly match, against Norway in Oslo, a 3–1 defeat. The biggest success in the years after the war was the victory against one of Europes best at the time

23.
1998 FIFA World Cup
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France staged the competition. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997, for the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the match and final staged at the Stade de France. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals, France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7, Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFAs requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively, France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, blazer stated that we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup. Since France won the selection process it was thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the payment was from the failed Moroccan bid. The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, as tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round, in Europe, fourteen countries qualified excluding France. Ten were determined after group play, nine group winners and the best second-placed team, the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals as well. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament, chile qualified for the first time since 1982

24.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system

25.
1999 UEFA Cup Final
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The 1999 UEFA Cup Final was a football match between Parma of Italy and Marseille of France on 12 May 1999 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. In doing so, Parma won their second UEFA Cup title and fourth European trophy, having won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Although this was just Parmas third entry into the UEFA Cup, they were contesting their second UEFA Cup final, winning the other one in 1995. Having also won the Coppa Italia that year, Parma were attempting a rare cup double, Parma lost by two goals to one in France before thumping them at home, scoring six goals without reply. Marseille had also had European success, but had won just one trophy and that victory was marred by match-fixing accusations and, although the title was not stripped from the French club, their participation in the UEFA Super Cup was barred. Coincidentally, Parma would have been their opponents had they been granted permission to compete, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia played host to the match, having never previously hosted a major European final. Its capacity stood at 78,360, making it Russias largest sports stadium, fabrizio Ravanelli and William Gallas both received yellow cards which barred their participation in the final. Christophe Dugarry and Hamada Jambay would serve the first match of their respective and five-, roberto Sensini, Parmas captain, chose to kick the match off. The first 25 minutes saw a cautious Marseille side play much of their football in their own half, only to knock it long to their isolated frontmen Robert Pirès and Florian Maurice. On the second occasion, Thuram was able to slide in to find Diego Fuser five yards from the byline and he whipped in a deep cross which Paolo Vanoli, the Gialloblùs car mechanic turned midfield player, expertly directed past Marseilles goalkeeper into the net to double Parmas advantage. Five minutes before the mark, Thuram surged forward down the right before giving the ball to Verón outside him. In April 2005 a video tape was released which showed Cannavaro being injected with a substance the night before the final, the substance was found to be neoton, which is used in cardiac surgery to protect the heart during periods of anoxia and stress. It is not on the banned substance list and this chemical is, in partnership with adenosine triphosphate, fundamental to the ability of the body to produce muscular energy. Phosphocreatine is formed naturally within the body, with over 95% of the compound stored within the muscle cells, approximately 5 oz of phosphocreatine is present in the body of a healthy adult, the levels of the compound do not fluctuate to a significant degree. When phosphocreatine stores become reduced, the body replenishes its supply from one of two sources, the first source is amino acids, the muscle- and tissue-building blocks present in all proteins. The liver produces phosphocreatine from amino acids, the body also receives dietary creatine primarily through the consumption of meat. No action was taken regarding this incident. 1998–99 UEFA Cup 1998–99 season at UEFA. com

26.
1999 UEFA Super Cup
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The 1999 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 27 August 1999 between the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League winners, Manchester United, and Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Against the odds, Lazio won the match 1–0, the goal coming from Chilean striker Marcelo Salas in the 35th minute. The match was played at the venue of the Stade Louis II in Monaco in front of 14,461 fans. This was the last Super Cup contested by the winners of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, since 2000, it has been contested by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League. The Stade Louis II in Monaco has been the venue for the UEFA Super Cup since 1998 and it was built in 1985, and is also the home of AS Monaco, who play in the French league system. 1998–99 UEFA Champions League 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners Cup

27.
Monaco
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Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 38,400 according to the last census of 2015. With 19,009 inhabitants per km², it is the second smallest, Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km, a coastline of 3.83 km, and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m. The highest point in the country is a pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward. Monacos most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins, through land reclamation, Monacos land mass has expanded by twenty percent, in 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2. Monaco is known as a playground for the rich and famous, in 2014, it was noted about 30% of the population was made up of millionaires, more than in Zürich or Geneva. Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, although Prince Albert II is a constitutional monarch, he wields immense political power. The House of Grimaldi have ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, the official language is French, but Monégasque, Italian, and English are widely spoken and understood. The states sovereignty was recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monacos independence and separate foreign policy, its defense is the responsibility of France, however, Monaco does maintain two small military units. Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the countrys first casino, Monte Carlo, since then, Monacos mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principalitys status as a tourist destination and recreation center for the rich. In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking center and has sought to diversify its economy into services and small, high-value-added, the state has no income tax, low business taxes, and is well known for being a tax haven. It is also the host of the street circuit motor race Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union, but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs, through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency. Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004 and it is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Monacos name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony, according to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos, because the only temple of this area was the House of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, an ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control

28.
Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time

29.
Old Trafford
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Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. It is about 0.5 miles from Old Trafford Cricket Ground, future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second tier to the South Stand, which would raise the capacity to around 95,000. The stadiums record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town and it also hosted football matches at the 2012 Summer Olympics, including womens international football for the first time in its history. Before 1902, Manchester United were known as Newton Heath, during time they first played their football matches at North Road. However, both grounds were blighted by wretched conditions, the pitches ranging from gravel to marsh, while Bank Street suffered from clouds of fumes from its neighbouring factories. Including the purchase of the land, the construction of the stadium was originally to have cost £60,000 all told. The subsidy would have come to the sum of £10,000, however, despite guarantees for the loan coming from the club itself and two local breweries, both chaired by club chairman John Henry Davies, the Cheshire Lines Committee turned the proposal down. The CLC had planned to build a new station adjacent to the new stadium, the station – Trafford Park – was eventually built, but further down the line than originally planned. The CLC later constructed a modest station with one timber-built platform immediately adjacent to the stadium and it was initially named United Football Ground, but was renamed Old Trafford Football Ground in early 1936. It was served on match days only by a service of steam trains from Manchester Central railway station. It is currently known as Manchester United Football Ground, construction was carried out by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester and development was completed in late 1909. The stadium hosted its game on 19 February 1910, with United playing host to Liverpool. However, the side were unable to provide their fans with a win to mark the occasion. A journalist at the game reported the stadium as the most handsomest, the most spacious, as a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed. Before the construction of Wembley Stadium in 1923, the FA Cup Final was hosted by a number of different grounds around England including Old Trafford. The first of these was the 1911 FA Cup Final replay between Bradford City and Newcastle United, after the tie at Crystal Palace finished as a no-score draw after extra time. Bradford won 1–0, the goal scored by Jimmy Speirs, in a match watched by 58,000 people, the grounds second FA Cup Final was the 1915 final between Sheffield United and Chelsea. Sheffield United won the match 3–0 in front of nearly 50,000 spectators, most of whom were in the military, leading to the final being nicknamed the Khaki Cup Final

30.
Alex Ferguson
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Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson, CBE is a former Scottish football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is regarded by players, managers and analysts to be the greatest and most successful manager of all time. Ferguson played as a forward for several Scottish clubs, including Dunfermline Athletic, while playing for Dunfermline, he was the top goalscorer in the Scottish league in the 1965–66 season. Towards the end of his career he also worked as a coach, then started his managerial career with East Stirlingshire. Ferguson then enjoyed a successful period as manager of Aberdeen. He briefly managed Scotland following the death of Jock Stein, taking the team to the 1986 World Cup. Ferguson was appointed manager of Manchester United in November 1986. During his 26 years with Manchester United he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and he was knighted in the 1999 Queens Birthday Honours list, for his services to the game. Ferguson is the longest serving manager of Manchester United, having overtaken Sir Matt Busbys record on 19 December 2010 and he retired from management at the end of the 2012–13 season, having won the Premier League in his final season. He attended Broomloan Road Primary School and later Govan High School, Fergusons playing career began as an amateur with Queens Park, where he made his debut as a striker aged 16. He described his first match as a nightmare, but scored Queens Parks goal in a 2–1 defeat against Stranraer. Perhaps his most notable game for Queens Park was the 7–1 defeat away to Queen of the South on Boxing Day 1959 when ex-England international Ivor Broadis scored four of the Queen of the South goals, Ferguson was the solitary Queens Park goalscorer. Despite scoring 20 goals in his 31 games for Queens Park, he could not command a regular place in the side, although he continued to score regularly at St Johnstone, he was still unable to command a regular place and regularly requested transfers. Dunfermline signed him the summer, and Ferguson became a full-time professional footballer. Dunfermline lost the final 3–2 to Celtic, then failed to win the League by one point, the 1965–66 season saw Ferguson notch up 45 goals in 51 games for Dunfermline. Along with Joe McBride of Celtic, he was the top goalscorer in the Scottish League with 31 goals and he then joined Rangers for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between two Scottish clubs. According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers medal away, the following October, Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson, but his wife was not keen on moving to England at that time so he went to Falkirk instead. Fergusons time at Falkirk was soured by this and he responded by requesting a transfer and moved to Ayr United, in June 1974, Ferguson was appointed manager of East Stirlingshire, at the comparatively young age of 32. It was a job that paid £40 per week

31.
Roman Abramovich
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Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian billionaire businessman, investor, and politician. Abramovich is the owner of the private investment company, Millhouse LLC and is best known outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea Football Club. According to Forbes 2016 billionaire list, Abramovichs net worth was US$7.6 billion, making him the 13th richest person in Russia, the same year, The Sunday Times estimated his net worth at ₤6.40 billion. Abramovich started his business during his army service. After a brief stint in the Soviet Army, Abramovich married his first wife, Abramovich first worked as a street-trader and then as a mechanic at a local factory. At the peak of perestroika, Abramovich sold imported rubber ducks from his Moscow apartment, Abramovich attended the Gubkin Institute of Oil and Gas in Moscow, then traded commodities for Runicom, a Swiss trading company. In 1988, as opened up opportunities for privatization in the Soviet Union. He and Olga set up a company making dolls, within a few years his wealth spread from oil conglomerates to pig farms and he also started investing in other businesses. Abramovich set up and liquidated at least 20 companies during the early 1990s, in sectors as diverse as tyre retreading and bodyguard recruitment. From 1992 to 1995, Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale, produced consumer goods, Abramovich co-operated with the investigation, and the case was closed after the oil production factory was compensated by the diesels buyer, the Latvian-US company, Chikora International. In 1995, Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, an associate of President Boris Yeltsin, the fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars. Abramovich later admitted in court that he paid bribes to government officials and obtained protection from gangsters to acquire these. Thus the main stages of Abramovichs financial career were January 1989 to May 1991, as chairman of the Comfort Co-op, according to various sources, from 1992 to 1995 Roman Abramovich set up five companies engaged in the production of consumer goods and selling-and-buying. In May 1995, jointly with Boris Berezovsky, he set up the P. K. In 1999, and now a tycoon, Abramovich was elected governor of Russias remote, far eastern province of Chukotka and he began selling oil from Noyabrsk. Eventually, he met fellow Russian businessman and entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky, according to two different sources, he first met Berezovsky either at a meeting of the Russian businessmen in the Caribbean in 1993 or in the summer of 1995 on the yacht of his friend Pyotr Aven. Together with Berezovsky, Abramovich founded the offshore company Gibraltar-registered Runicom Ltd. Abramovich headed the Moscow affiliate of the Swiss firm, Runicom S. A. In August 1995, Sibneft was created by Boris Yeltsin’s presidential decree and it was rumored that Abramovich was the chief of the organization with Berezovsky promoting the business in higher circles

32.
Claudio Ranieri
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Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of English club Leicester City and he began his managerial career in the lower leagues in Italy during the late 1980s, and made his name at Cagliari, whom he took from Serie C1 up to Serie A in successive seasons. He later went on to manage Napoli, where he led the team to qualify for the UEFA Cup, with Valencia, he won a Copa del Rey and an UEFA Intertoto Cup, and helped the club to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. In 2000, Ranieri moved to England to become coach at Chelsea. His four seasons there saw Chelsea improve their points total season on season, with them finishing runners-up in 2004 and reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-final the same season. After an unsuccessful second spell back in Spain with Valencia, he returned to management in Italy in 2007, Ranieri returned to England once more in the summer of 2015 as manager of Leicester City. He was also awarded the Grand Officer of the Italian Order of Merit, during the following season, he was sacked by the club in February 2017. Ranieri was born in San Saba, a neighbourhood of Rome near the Circus Maximus and he began playing football at his neighbourhood church. A childhood friend described him as having a stereotypically English demeanour, in being quiet and he and his family live in Formello, a nearby town where 1982 FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper Dino Zoff is also among the residents. Ranieri is married to Dr Rosanna and he has a daughter, Claudia, who married Italian actor Alessandro Roja and gave Claudio a grandson, named Orlando. Ranieri first signed as a football player with Roma, though in his two seasons with the club he only made six appearances, he also had a one-month loan spell with Siracusa. As a player, Ranieri spent most of his playing as a defender for Catanzaro, Catania. He was involved in four successful promotion campaigns, after initially coaching amateur side Vigor Lamezia, his first managerial position was at Campania Puteolana, a small team in Pozzuoli. He took charge there in 1987, at Cagliari, his team were known for their fluid tactical system, which enabled the team to change their shape and switch between different formations throughout the course of a single match. From 1991, he managed for two seasons at Napoli, who were facing difficulties at the time. Despite finishing in place in Serie A, and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Ranieri joined Fiorentina in 1993, gaining promotion to Serie A after winning the 1993–94 Serie B title in his first season in charge of the Florence side, in 1997, Ranieri moved to Spain to take over at Valencia. He was responsible for the development of youth players at the club, among them Claudio Lopez, Gaizka Mendieta, Miguel Ángel Angulo

33.
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It is the ground of Chelsea F. C. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is referred to as simply The Bridge. The capacity is 41,663, making it the eighth largest ground in the Premier League, the club has plans to expand the capacity to 60,000 by the 2021–2022 season. It has undergone major changes over the years, most recently in the 1990s when it was renovated into a modern. Stamford Bridge has been used as a venue for England international matches, FA Cup Finals, FA Cup semi-finals and it has also hosted numerous other sports, such as cricket, rugby union, speedway, greyhound racing, baseball and American football. The stadiums highest official attendance is 82,905, for a match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 12 October 1935. Stamford Bridge is considered to be a derivative of Samfordesbrigge meaning the bridge at the sandy ford, 18th century maps show a Stanford Creek running along the route of what is now a railway line at the back of the East Stand as a tributary of the Thames. The upper reaches of this tributary have been known as Billingswell Ditch, Pools Creek, in mediaeval times the Creek was known as Billingwell Dyche, derived from Billings spring or stream. It formed the boundary between the parishes of Kensington and Fulham, by the 18th century the creek had become known as Counters Creek which is the name it has retained since. However, previous to this, in 1898, Stamford Bridge played host to the World Championship of shinty between Beauly Shinty Club and London Camanachd. Stamford Bridge was built close to Lillie Bridge, a sports ground which had hosted the 1873 FA Cup Final. It was initially offered to Fulham Football Club, but they turned it down for financial reasons. After considering the sale of the land to the Great Western Railway Company, noted football ground architect Archibald Leitch, who had also designed Ibrox, Celtic Park, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park, was hired to construct the stadium. In its early days, Stamford Bridge stadium was served by a railway station, Chelsea and Fulham railway station. Stamford Bridge had a capacity of around 100,000. It was used as the FA Cup final venue, as originally constructed, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track and the pitch was initially located in the middle of the running track. The stadium had a stand for 5,000 spectators on the east side

34.
Liverpool F.C.
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Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, the club has won 5 European Cups,3 UEFA Cups,3 UEFA Super Cups,18 League titles,7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields. The club was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year, the club has played at Anfield since its formation. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably the North West Derby against Manchester United, the clubs supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The second was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing, the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964 which has been used ever since. The clubs anthem is Youll Never Walk Alone, Liverpool F. C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892, the team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal, the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, the club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup, in 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later, Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisleys second season as manager, the club won another League, the following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979, Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagans first season, Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 fans. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster, the match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus

35.
Anfield
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Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, England which has a seating capacity of 54,074 making it the sixth largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F. C. since their formation in 1892 and it was originally the home of Everton F. C. from 1884 to 1891, before they moved to Goodison Park after a dispute with the club president. The stadium has four stands, the Spion Kop, Main Stand, Centenary Stand, the record attendance of 61,905, was set at a match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1952. The ground converted to a stadium in 1994 as a result of the Taylor Report which greatly reduced its capacity. Two gates at the ground are named after former Liverpool managers, Bill Shankly, a statue of Shankly is situated outside the stadium. The ground is 2 miles from Liverpool Lime Street railway station, construction for an extension to the Main Stand began on 8 December 2014. This extension increased the capacity to 54,074, making it one of the largest all-seater single stands in European football. There are future plans to expand the Anfield Road Stand which would bring the size to around 59,000. Opened in 1884, Anfield was originally owned by John Orrell, Everton, who previously played at Priory Road, were in need of a new venue owing to the noise produced by the crowd on match days. Orrell lent the pitch to the club in exchange for a small rent, the first match at the ground was between Everton and Earlestown on 28 September 1884, which Everton won 5–0. The ground was considered of international standard at the time, playing host to the British Home Championship match between England and Ireland in 1889. Anfields first league match was played on 8 September 1888, between Everton and Accrington F. C. Everton quickly improved as a team, and became Anfields first league champions in the 1890–91 season. In 1892, negotiations to purchase the land at Anfield from Orrell escalated into a dispute between Houlding and the Everton F. C. committee over how the club was run, events culminated in Evertons move to Goodison Park. Houlding was left with an empty stadium, and decided to form a new club to occupy it. The new team was called Liverpool F. C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd, Liverpools first Football League match at Anfield was played on 9 September 1893, against Lincoln City. Liverpool won 4–0 in front of 5,000 spectators, a new stand capable of holding 3,000 spectators was constructed in 1895 on the site of the present Main Stand. Designed by architect Archibald Leitch, the stand had a red and white gable. Another stand was constructed at the Anfield Road end in 1903, built from timber, after Liverpool had won their second League championship in 1906, a new stand was built along the Walton Breck Road

36.
The Times
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The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1967 and its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in touch with 10 Downing Street. In these countries, the newspaper is often referred to as The London Times or The Times of London, although the newspaper is of national scope, in November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in a new font, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, the Sunday Times remains a broadsheet. The Times had a daily circulation of 446,164 in December 2016, in the same period. An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006 and it has been heavily used by scholars and researchers because of its widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index. A complete historical file of the paper, up to 2010, is online from Gale Cengage Learning. The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company where he was working went bankrupt because of the complaints of a Jamaican hurricane. Being unemployed, Walter decided to set a new business up and it was in that time when Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was faster and more precise. Walter bought the patent and to use it, he decided to open a printing house. The first publication of the newspaper The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain was 1 January 1785, unhappy because people always omitted the word Universal, Ellias changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name, the Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its life, the profits of The Times were very large. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig, in 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000. Thomas Barnes was appointed editor in 1817

37.
Inter Milan
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date

38.
Internazionale Milano F.C.
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date

39.
Juventus F.C.
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Juventus Football Club S. p. A. colloquially known as Juve, is a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The clubs fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest worldwide, support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants. Juventus is the most successful club in Italian football and one of the most awarded globally, Juventus were founded as Sport-Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo DAzeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, during this period the team wore a pink and black kit. Juventus first won the championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodrome Umberto I ground. By this time the colours had changed to black and white stripes. There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin, President Alfred Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole. Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club in 1923, and built a new stadium. This helped the club to its second scudetto in the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with a score of 12–1. With star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari, Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale, but for the rest of the 1930s and the majority of the 1940s they were unable to recapture championship dominance. After the Second World War, Gianni Agnelli was appointed honorary president, the club added two more league championships to its name in the 1949–50 and 1951–52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver. Two new strikers were signed during 1957–58, Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sívori and that season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirts after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Sívori became the first ever player at the club to win the European Footballer of the Year, the following season they beat Fiorentina to complete their first league and cup double, winning Serie A and Coppa Italia. Boniperti retired in 1961 as the top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions. During the rest of the decade, the won the league just once more in 1966–67, The 1970s, however. Under former player Čestmír Vycpálek, they won the scudetto in 1971–72 and 1972–73, with such as Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio. During the rest of the decade, they won the league twice more, the Trapattoni era was highly successful in the 1980s, the club started the decade off well, winning the league title three more times by 1984. This meant Juventus had won 20 Italian league titles and were allowed to add a golden star to their shirt

40.
Roberto Rosetti
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Roberto Rosetti is a former Italian football referee. He is fluent in Italian, English and French and he started refereeing in 1983, and took charge of his first match in the Italian Serie A in 1996. He received his FIFA Badge in 2002, aside from his refereeing duties, Rosetti works as director of a hospital. Rosetti is counted amongst the top referees of all time in a list maintained by the International Federation of Football History and he retired following the 2010 FIFA World Cup to take a position with the Italian Football Federation as the referee designator for Serie B League. Luciano Moggi, then director of Juventus, had described Rosetti. Moggi also claimed that Rosetti and Collina should be punished for decisions made against Juventus in that same phonecall, Rosetti emerged from the scandal unscathed. Rosetti was one of the referees who officiated over the UEFA Champions League 2007–08. He refereed the semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, Rosetti was selected to referee at UEFA Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria. Rosetti was one of the referees who officiated over the UEFA Champions League 2008–09. Rosetti was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and his first match of the tournament was a 1-1 draw between Ghana and Australia. Rosetti sent Australias Harry Kewell off for handling the ball on the goal line, the next game he refereed was the Argentina–Mexico game in the Round of 16. Rosetti was left off the list of 19 referees announced by FIFA to take part in the rest of the competition although footballs world governing body did not explain why and this decision affected Rosetti greatly and was the major reason behind his retirement. Serie A Referee of the Year,2006,2007,2008,2009 Italian Football Hall of Fame,2015 FIFA profile Profile on ratetheref. net

41.
2009 FIFA Club World Cup
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The 2009 FIFA Club World Cup was a football tournament played from 9 December to 19 December 2009. It was the sixth FIFA Club World Cup and was played in Abu Dhabi, australia, Japan and Portugal also placed bids to host the tournament, but Portugal later withdrew from the process. The final was played on 19 December 2009 and was won by European champions Barcelona, Abu Dhabi was the only city to serve as a venue for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup. The Adidas Jabulani, the match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

42.
2002 FIFA World Cup
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The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup which took place from 31 May to 30 June 2002 in South Korea and Japan. Brazil won the tournament for a fifth time, winning the final against Germany 2–0. The victory meant Brazil qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup for the fifth time, in the third place play-off match against South Korea, Turkey won 3–2 taking third place in only their second ever FIFA World Cup finals. China PR, Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia made their first appearances at the finals with Turkey making its first appearance since 1954, additionally, Turkey took third place and South Korea managed to reach the semi-finals, beating Spain, Italy and Portugal en route. South Korea in particular, faced scrutiny and allegations of corruption due to their victories over Italy. However, the most potent team at the tournament, Brazil, prevailed, South Korea and Japan were selected as hosts by FIFA on 31 May 1996. Initially, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico presented three rival bids, however, the two Asian countries agreed to unite their bids shortly before the decision was made, and they were chosen unanimously in preference to Mexico. This was the first World Cup to be hosted by two countries, at the time the decision was made, Japan had never qualified for a World Cup finals. The only other countries to have awarded a World Cup without previously having competed in a final tournament are Italy in 1934. The unusual choice of host proved an issue for fans in Europe. With games taking place in the European morning, some schools, a total of 199 teams attempted to qualify for the 2002 World Cup which qualification process began with the preliminary draw held in Tokyo on 7 December 1999. Defending champions France and co-hosts South Korea and Japan qualified automatically and this was the final World Cup in which the defending champions qualified automatically. 14 places were contested by UEFA teams, five by CAF teams, four by CONMEBOL teams, four by AFC teams, the remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and UEFA and between CONMEBOL and OFC. Four nations qualified for the finals for the first time, China, Ecuador, Senegal, as of 2014, this was the last time Turkey, China, Republic of Ireland and Senegal qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Turkey qualified for the first time since 1954, and both Poland and Portugal for the first time since 1986, all seven previous World Cup-winning nations qualified, the first time so many previous champions had been present at a finals tournament. The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament, the seeds comprised Pot A in the draw. Pot B contained the remaining 11 European sides, Pot C contained five unseeded qualifiers from CONMEBOL, Pot D contained unseeded sides from the CONCACAF region and Africa. This was the last FIFA World Cup with the champion in Group A

43.
Julio Alak
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Julio César Alak is an Argentine politician, the former mayor of the Buenos Aires Province capital of La Plata, and former Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Argentina. Alak was born to a family of Spanish, Italian and Armenian descent in Benito Juárez and he worked as a journalist while studying law at the University of La Plata, and joined Chacho Álvarez and other center-left Peronists supporting Antonio Cafiero in the APU. Alak taught Public Law at the university and established a private practice and he married Marita Scarpino and had three children. Alak joined the Justicialist Party in 1984, Alak became the President of the La Plata branch of the party in 1988, and was nominated its mayoral candidate in 1991. He won the election, narrowly defeating the incumbent UCR mayor, in the 1990s, Alak pushed through the construction of a new stadium for La Plata, over the objections of the two major football clubs, which chose to remain in their home fields. Concurrently, Alak sponsored a club, La Plata FC. Significant sums were spent from the city budget for activities related to that club. For some time, it was thought that it would be the side to play in the new stadium. When a security regulation forbidding wooden stands came into effect in 2005, Estudiantes de La Plata relocated their home games to the Bosque, and later to the Quilmes stadium. The municipality has refused to allow Estudiantes an upgrade of their field and this behavior triggered animosity in the Estudiantes fan base. In 2006, Gimnasias stadium was banned as well, and their management transferred their games to the new stadium, in April 2006, Alak intervened against a judicial order that would have allowed the re-opening of both fields. In August 2006, an agreement has been reached to allow remodeling Estudiantes field, using newer technologies, to allow for a 20,000 sitting room capacity. Critics argue that while millions went into the construction of the stadium, prior to the 2007 provincial election, Alak signed Estudiantes legend Juan Ramón Verón to a post as children sports services coordinator. La Plata FC was dissolved three months after Alak left office. Initial results of the October 28,2007, election indicated that Alak finished behind opposition candidate Pablo Bruera who took 25% to Alaks 20%. Justice Minister Alak spearheaded more vigorous laws against terrorism, money laundering, and market manipulation during his tenure, as well as stepped up prosecutions of Dirty War perpetrators

La Plata
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La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of the partido La Plata. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 765,378, La Plata was planned and developed to serve as the provincial capital after the city of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880. It was officially founded by Governor Dardo Rocha on 19 Nove

Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Ai

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The Cave of the Hands in Santa Cruz province, with indigenous artwork dating from 13,000–9,000 years ago

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The surrender of Beresford to Santiago de Liniers during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata

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Portrait of General José de San Martin, Libertador of Argentina, Chile and Peru

Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonl

1.
Former Spain midfielder Xavi was voted to the FIFPro World XI six years in a row.

Estudiantes de La Plata
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Club Estudiantes de La Plata, simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine sports club based in La Plata. The clubs football team competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history. The club is amongst the most successful teams in Argentina, in 1967, Estudiantes was the first team outside of the traditional big five to w

1.
The 1913 Estudiantes team that won its first title in Primera División.

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The team that won the 1968 Copa Libertadores, coached by Osvaldo Zubeldía.

Boca Juniors
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Boca Juniors refers to the popular Argentine football club. Other clubs have been named after it, as well as other things, Boca Juniors, football club in Colombia. Boca Juniors, football club in Grenada, Boca Juniors, football club in Río Gallegos, Argentina

U.C. Sampdoria
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Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly known as Sampdoria, is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, Sampdoria currently compete in Serie A. Both the team name and jersey do reflect this, t

Parma F.C.
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Commonly referred to as Parma, is an Italian football club based in the city of Parma that currently competes in Lega Pro, the third tier of Italian football. Founded as Parma Football Club in December 1913, the club plays its matches in the 22, 352-seat Stadio Ennio Tardini, often referred to as simply Il Tardini. It traditionally plays attractive

S.S. Lazio
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Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia six times

Manchester United F.C.
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Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current

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The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division

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Manchester United

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The Busby Babes in Denmark in 1955

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A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players' names

Chelsea F.C.
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Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The

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The first Chelsea team in September 1905

2.
Chelsea

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Chelsea players celebrate their first UEFA Champions League title against Bayern Munich.

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Stamford Bridge

F.C. Internazionale Milano
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 19

1.
Giuseppe Meazza made 408 appearances for Inter. He is the all-time top scorer of the club, with 284 goals

2.
Inter Milan

3.
The Inter team which won the Intercontinental Cup in 1965

4.
Javier Zanetti was captain of Inter from August 1999 to his retirement in 2014

Argentina national football team
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The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentinas home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, la Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, incl

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Javier Zanetti is the most capped player in the history of Argentina with 143 caps.

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Gabriel Batistuta is the highest goalscorer in the history of Argentina with 56 goals.

Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the ga

1.
The attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball beyond the opposing team's goalkeeper and between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar to score a goal

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Children playing cuju in Song dynasty China

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Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who is regarded as the "father of football"

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A women's international match between the United States and Germany

Serie A
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It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999. In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional

1.
The old Logo

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Serie A

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Paolo Maldini has made the most appearances in Serie A (647)

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Silvio Piola is the highest goalscorer in Serie A with 274 goals

List of Italian football champions
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The Italian football champions are the annual winners of Serie A, Italys premier football league competition. The title has been contested since 1898 in varying forms of competition, Juventus are the current champions, and have won a record of 32 titles. The first time the Scudetto was used was in 1924 when Genoa won its 9th championship title and

1.
Scudetto

UEFA Cup
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The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2

1.
UEFA Europa League

2017 Copa Libertadores
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The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores is the 58th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South Americas premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Atlético Nacional are the defending champions, starting from this season, the following format changes will be implemented, The tournament will be expanded from 38 to 47 teams. A total o

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Peñarol winning the Copa Libertadores 1966

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The current Copa Bridgestone Libertadores official logo, in use since 2012

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A formation of the Estudiantes de La Plata team that won the title in 1968, 1969 and 1970.

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The Boca Juniors team that won the 2000 edition.

FIFA World Cup
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The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is Germany, which won its title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 32 teams, including the qualifying host nation, compete in the tournament phase for the title

1.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony

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Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay

FIFA 100
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The FIFA100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelés choice of the greatest living footballers. The list contains 123 professional male and 2 female players, at the time the FIFA100 was selected,50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game. Some football observers have questioned the methodology of

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Pelé in 2008

Italian nationality law
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Italian nationality law is the law of Italy governing the acquisition, transmission and loss of Italian citizenship. Like many continental European countries it is based on jus sanguinis. It also incorporates elements that are seen as favourable to the Italian diaspora. The Italian Parliaments 1992 update of Italian nationality law is Law no,91, an

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Cover of an Italian biometric passport issued in 2006

2.
Contents

3.
Inside cover of an Italian biometric passport issued in 2006

Diego Maradona
–
Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine retired professional footballer. He has served as a manager and coach at other clubs as well as the team of Argentina. Many in the sport, including writers, players, and fans. He was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé.9 million. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Se

1.
Maradona with Al Wasl in 2012

2.
Maradona celebrating his first goal with Boca Juniors, February 1981.

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Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea, dubbed "The butcher from Bilbao", was involved in two controversial incidents with Maradona

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Diego Maradona with Napoli in 1985. Throughout his career he would wear number 10 for both club and country.

Poland national football team
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The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland. Polands home ground is the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw and their current head coach is Adam Nawałka, the most renowned Polish team was the one of the mid-1970s that held England

3.
Grzegorz Lato (left)

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Zbigniew Boniek, top scorer for Poland in the 1982 World Cup.

1998 FIFA World Cup
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for mens national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998, the country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the time that France st

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Saint-Denis

2.
1998 FIFA World Cup official logo

Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of st

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The Hatter 's hat shows an example of the old pre-decimal system: the hat costs half a guinea (10 shillings and 6 pence)

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All frequently used coins. The coins shown are those after the extensive 2008 redesign.

3.
A pound = 20 shillings = 240 silver pennies (formerly)

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£1 coin (Welsh design, 2000)

1999 UEFA Cup Final
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The 1999 UEFA Cup Final was a football match between Parma of Italy and Marseille of France on 12 May 1999 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. In doing so, Parma won their second UEFA Cup title and fourth European trophy, having won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Although this was just Parmas third entry into the UEFA Cup, they were contesting their seco

1.
Match programme cover

1999 UEFA Super Cup
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The 1999 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 27 August 1999 between the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League winners, Manchester United, and Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Against the odds, Lazio won the match 1–0, the goal coming from Chilean striker Marcelo Salas in the 35th minute. The match was played at the venue of the

1.
GK

Monaco
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Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 38,400 according to the last census of 2015. With 19,009 inha

1.
Statue of Francesco Grimaldi, " Il Malizia " ("the Cunning"), disguised as a monk with a dagger hidden under the cloak of his habit. However, he was ousted by the Genoese just four years later. The Grimaldi family purchased Monaco from the Crown of Aragon in 1419.

Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league syste

1.
Arsenal against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League in 2011

2.
Premier League

3.
A 2012 match between Chelsea and Norwich City.

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Cristiano Ronaldo preparing to take a free kick in a 2009 match between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Old Trafford
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Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. It is about 0.5 miles from Old Trafford Cricket Ground, future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second tier to the South Stand, which would raise the capacity to around 95,000. The stadiums record attendance was record

1.
The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand (North Stand) seen from the South Stand

2.
The statue of Sir Matt Busby, overlooking the East Stand forecourt

3.
The Stretford End before its redevelopment in the early 1990s

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The redeveloped East Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2000–01 season.

Alex Ferguson
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Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson, CBE is a former Scottish football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is regarded by players, managers and analysts to be the greatest and most successful manager of all time. Ferguson played as a forward for several Scottish clubs, including Dunfermline Athletic, while playing for

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Ferguson at a Manchester United match on 9 December 2006

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Under Ferguson, United acclaimed a treble of trophies in the 1998–99 season.

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Ferguson with former assistant manager Carlos Queiroz

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Ferguson in 2009

Roman Abramovich
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Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian billionaire businessman, investor, and politician. Abramovich is the owner of the private investment company, Millhouse LLC and is best known outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea Football Club. According to Forbes 2016 billionaire list, Abramovichs net worth was US$7.6 billion, making him the 13th richest

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Roman Abramovich

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Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge during a 4–0 victory over Portsmouth F.C. in August 2008.

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Roman Abramovich watches his team Chelsea play against Leicester City, August 2014

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Abramovich at the World Cup in Germany

Claudio Ranieri
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Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of English club Leicester City and he began his managerial career in the lower leagues in Italy during the late 1980s, and made his name at Cagliari, whom he took from Serie C1 up to Serie A in successive seasons. He later went o

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Ranieri with Inter Milan in 2011

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Ranieri with Roma, pictured on a postage stamp from 1973

Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It is the ground of Chelsea F. C. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is referred to as simply The Bridge. The capacity is 41,663, making it the eighth largest ground in the Premier League, the club has plans to expand the capacity to 60,

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Stamford Bridge

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Bird's Eye Picture of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in 1909

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The brand New Stamford Bridge stadium in August 1905

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Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge in September 1905

Liverpool F.C.
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Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, the club has won 5 European Cups,3 UEFA Cups,3 UEFA Super Cups,18 League titles,7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields. The club was founded in 189

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John Houlding, the founder of Liverpool F.C.

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Liverpool

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Statue of Bill Shankly outside Anfield. Shankly won promotion to the First Division and the club's first league title since 1947.

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The Hillsborough memorial, which is engraved with the names of the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster.

Anfield
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Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, England which has a seating capacity of 54,074 making it the sixth largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F. C. since their formation in 1892 and it was originally the home of Everton F. C. from 1884 to 1891, before they moved to Goodison Park after a dispute with

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View from the Anfield Road Stand

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The topmast rescued from the SS Great Eastern

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The Kop in 1983, before the Taylor Report recommended standing areas in football grounds be outlawed following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

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The Shankly Gates were erected in 1982

The Times
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The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff,

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Front page of The Times from 4 December 1788

2.
Roy Thomson

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A wounded British officer reading The Times's report of the end of the Crimean War, in John Everett Millais ' painting Peace Concluded.

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John Walter, the founder of The Times

Inter Milan
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 19

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Giuseppe Meazza made 408 appearances for Inter. He is the all-time top scorer of the club, with 284 goals

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Inter Milan

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The Inter team which won the Intercontinental Cup in 1965

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Javier Zanetti was captain of Inter from August 1999 to his retirement in 2014

Internazionale Milano F.C.
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 19

1.
Giuseppe Meazza made 408 appearances for Inter. He is the all-time top scorer of the club, with 284 goals

2.
Inter Milan

3.
The Inter team which won the Intercontinental Cup in 1965

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Javier Zanetti was captain of Inter from August 1999 to his retirement in 2014

Juventus F.C.
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Juventus Football Club S. p. A. colloquially known as Juve, is a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The clubs fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest worldwide, support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant

Roberto Rosetti
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Roberto Rosetti is a former Italian football referee. He is fluent in Italian, English and French and he started refereeing in 1983, and took charge of his first match in the Italian Serie A in 1996. He received his FIFA Badge in 2002, aside from his refereeing duties, Rosetti works as director of a hospital. Rosetti is counted amongst the top refe

1.
Roberto Rosetti

2009 FIFA Club World Cup
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The 2009 FIFA Club World Cup was a football tournament played from 9 December to 19 December 2009. It was the sixth FIFA Club World Cup and was played in Abu Dhabi, australia, Japan and Portugal also placed bids to host the tournament, but Portugal later withdrew from the process. The final was played on 19 December 2009 and was won by European cha

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2009 FIFA Club World Cup Logo

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Official mascot of the tournament

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Closing ceremony of the tournament

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Abu Dhabi

2002 FIFA World Cup
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The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup which took place from 31 May to 30 June 2002 in South Korea and Japan. Brazil won the tournament for a fifth time, winning the final against Germany 2–0. The victory meant Brazil qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup for the fifth time, in the third place play-off match aga

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South Korea

2.
2002 FIFA World Cup official logo

Julio Alak
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Julio César Alak is an Argentine politician, the former mayor of the Buenos Aires Province capital of La Plata, and former Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Argentina. Alak was born to a family of Spanish, Italian and Armenian descent in Benito Juárez and he worked as a journalist while studying law at the University of La Plata, and joined C

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From the top, left to right: Central Business District skyline, the Palace of the Argentine National Congress, Puente de la Mujer, Tango dancers in San Telmo, Casa Rosada, the Metropolitan Cathedral, Cabildo, the Obelisco, Teatro Colón, La Recoleta Cemetery, the Planetario within Parque Tres de Febrero, and Caminito.

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Aldus verthoont hem de stadt Buenos Ayrros geleegen in Rio de la Plata, painting by a Dutch sailor who anchored at the port around 1628.

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Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires.

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Depiction of Juan de Garay and the second founding of Buenos Aires, 1580